Junk food booted from checkout line

The checkout line, which is carefully designed to inspire impulse purchases, is where parents often cave to their child's incessant demands for sweets.

But one midwestern grocery store has replaced candy with supposedly so-called "healthier" options, Michelle Haacke said in the Albert Lea Tribune.

The experiment took two years to get off the ground. But Hy-Vee's Blue Zones lane, which features dried fruits, granola-type bars, string cheese and flavored water "has seen an average of a 42 percent increase on sales of items featured in the lane," Haacke reported.

The store has also seen a 60 percent increase in the sales of soy nuts, a 30 percent increase in the sales of raw no-salt sunflower seeds, a 63 percent increase in the sales of dried peaches (no sugar added varieties) and a 16 percent increase in the sales of Sunsweet prunes.

It's just one lane but it's a start. Gina Rau, who writes the Feed Our Families blog (where I initially saw the link to this story), would like to see her local Fred Meyer offer less junk food and more healthy snacks at her local Fred Meyer. "I might even be tempted to buy them, even though we typically don't buy single-serving snacks," she wrote. "It also gives me an opportunity to talk about healthy foods with my child while we wait in line."

Meanwhile, movie theaters and convenience stores may also be introducing healthier options. But they need to know it's what consumers want.